Journey from Bangalore to Nittur(Kodachadri trek start point) -
We reached majestic in the night. It was totally unplanned,so we had no reservations. Puu told "macha ivatt shanivaara train khali iratte.. train ale hogona maja baratte.." and we trusted our sede friend and took ticket to Shivamogga(200 Rs).
And the train arrived to the station. It was already full!!!.. and there were hundreds of people outside who wanted to get in. We gave a look to Puu who told us " Saturday night trains khali iratte barala".
We somehow got into train... there was no place to even to stand. people were stamping.. fighting for place to stand.. We couldn't even breathe.... Next day we had 14km trek...
So we decided.. if we take this train we will sleep in smg bus stand. So we got down the from the train. And took Airavata bus. And our journey started...
So we decided.. if we take this train we will sleep in smg bus stand. So we got down the from the train. And took Airavata bus. And our journey started...
It was 5.30AM when we reached Shivamogga. From there we had to take a bus to Nittur(near kollur). It was 120 km from SMG. It took 4 hrs to reach Nittur.
Here we had breakfast near bus stand in a hotel. Food was great. It was best buns i have ever had in my life.If you are starting from here don't miss it!! We gathered few information about the trek from localities and our trek officially started from here.
Trek details given by localities - Hinge seeda hogi ond cement bridge sigatte(approx 3 km), take a left deviation and walk straight...
Nittur to Hidlumane falls
With sooo much of information we started our trek. After walking for half Km Puu saw one lorry coming and he asked him for a lift. Luckily that guy stopped. We got in lorry, It was one hell of a ride.
It was first group picture of ours
He stopped at the bridge and we started walking. 100 meter deviation from main road, there was no network. And our first problem arrived. We saw two roads and both looked main road. We were confused. No one to ask. We decided to take left one. We went further. One more Km, there were no one!!!!!!! We started getting doubt if we are going on right track... Finally!!! after half an hour of walk, we found one guy. He told that we have to walk more straight . We were happy that we were on right track. After some more walking and waling and walking.., we found one small river.There ware two roads one through river other one to right. We were again confused. We took turn and started walking. Luckily immediately after the turn someone told us, we had taken wrong turn. We were suppose to walk through river
After so much of journey and walking.. this was so refreashing..
We washed faces and filled our bottles here. Water was so cold and freah.. There were few other confusing paths ahead, but local people are very helpful they guide you...
Walking through forest.. paddy fields it was a nice journey..
And It was almost 1.30 around, we reached Hidlumane falls entrance. After so much of walking.. taking bath in this.. felt so good!!
This falls comes in few layers. We have to walk just by the side of the falls to reach main falls. This part would be very difficult during rainy season.. Rocks are slippery so... if you are visiting please be careful while climbing.
There was one big girls gang at falls. So we took a short break there...
We asked a local guide how much more time it would take to reach peak form there. He told around 5 hrs depending on our speed. Time was already 1.30. So,by his calculation we would reach peak by 6.30... If there were no rooms available at peak, we had to return by jeep. which will end at 6pm. We were behind our schedule!!!!
Hidlumane falls to kodachadri peak
From here it is around 70 degree inclination.. Once we crossed falls 5min later we had crossed forest.. it was all green grass everywhere... Though it was nice view,after 10 km walking and playing in water, it was very difficult to climb...
And this path is more dangerous for getting down. We saw 2-3 people fell down while coming down..
That is our guys posing to camera...
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The view after climbing for half an hour..😍
Such an amazing path it was.. though we were tired we didn't feel it. We could see peak coming closer and closer with every step.. After reaching that peak we saw one more peak which is much higher.
Since we go for trek usually we could cover distance faster..
After an hour of trekking we saw jeeps going and coming at far place...and we were happy to see it. We just had to get down one mountain and climb to reach it... After walking and sitting and scrolling and walking finally!!! we reached jeep tracks...
That short path in the mountain behind was the jeep track
We started following jeep track. It was 5 when we reached home stay at peak.
This was the view form homestay
Luckily, we got a room here. There was door frame, but door was missing..there were lights but no current.. it was in horrible condition(Other rooms were good actually). He charged us 250 Rs per person. We agreed. It turned out to be one of best place we ever stayed(other thn room condition).
We had a hot tea in that cold whether and kept our bags here and continued our journey..
Kodachadri peak-
By the time we reach here, sunny whether turned cloudy. We started from Home stay to explore peak. Going further we find two routes, one to right leads to Datta peeta. Many people will be going in this direction. This other route to left is for adventure people.(reason explained in later part). We took right and started.
Damn!! we had climbed so much!! and there were clouds below us, Few times clouds passed through us. For a minute everything was invisible.. fog was around us..shriving cold... and once cloud passes back to normal.... It is around 1.5 - 2km from homestay to datta peeta.
Way to datta peeta
By the time we get back to home stay it was dark. So, we thought we ll rest for day.
Night at Kodachadri -
Forest home stay is only option for staying at Kodachadri peak. We had dinner... anna sambar, palya and buttermilk. Food is amazing here or we were too hungry..idk it felt like nothing can taste better than this...
And the best part is... in night we came out ...There were clouds below us and moon light on those clouds. It felt like a heaven..!! Listening to melody old Kannada song with this view.. It's a totally different experience❤. We have done many trekking but we never got this kind of view.. Unfortunately, our camera couldn't capture this moments..since lighting was less :(
Early morning fully cold whether...cup of tea..perfect combination!!!
after the rest.. with fully recharged we started exploring other part of Kodachadri(the one i mentioned earlier). It is one of scariest part. It was one meter wide track, right side was grass wall, and to the left ..just to the left, its deeeeepp downn. Each step should be careful here. That too the land was moist in early morning, it was slippery. What do we do if snake comes in front..What if we slip and fall off to the left!! Should we continue or go back....These were the things that kept running in the mind!!
Looks scary???? No this is not the path i am talking about. That was even worse!!
Being a trekker, quit is not an option..We continued... After 100m, there we have to climb almost vertical.. If we fall down we don't know where we ll reach, it was just white down there because of fog, but it was definitely deep down there.... Somehow we managed it. We wanted to see the sun rise.(Kodachadri is one place where we can see sunrise and sunset). We waited till 9. Still it was fully cloudy. We had further plans. We left from there. Coming down we took Jeep because of time constraints.
This Jeep ride is more dangerous than trek😂. After this ride i am sure you will feel THE pain. We reached Kollur back and continued with our trip.
How to reach : Bangalore to kollur bus is there(just 1) or take bus/train til Shivamogga from there Nittur. Start trek
Trek details : It is aound 18km trek one way if you are starting from Nittur. But alternatively, jeeps run till hidlumane falls, you can take that.
For any details please ping us on Instagram: wolfpack_trek_travel.
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